This invention relates to the manufacture of electrical contacts and more particularly to methods of producing electrical contacts adapted for electrically interconnecting an electrical wire with either a male contact pin or a female contact.
Still further, the invention relates to methods of making electrical contacts wherein the produced contacts may be positioned within an electrically insulative housing.
Contacts of the variety described above have usually been manufactured by processes utilizing a complex molding and forming operation. Mostly, these contacts have been produced from a single material which in turn is subjected to multiple operations such as stamping, bending, rolling, etc. The resulting product was thereafter only able to satisfy a single function, that is, interconnect an electrical wire with another wire or a wire with a male or female component. Those adapted for joining wires with male components were not able to accept a female component, and vice-versa. Similarly, those adapted for joining wires to wires were unable to connect a wire to a corresponding male or female member. Being unitary in structure, such contacts have therefore lacked the feature of versatility so often desired in the electronics field.
Examples of the above contacts are represented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,942 wherein FIGS. 3 and 4 depict male and female mating members each of which has been joined to an electrical wire. As is understood, each of these contacts is produced from a unitary material which in turn is formed through a series of often complicated forming operations (i.e., stamping using multiple dies) to provide the end product. As can further be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,942, the housing required to retain the illustrated contacts is itself rather complicated in design, thus further necessitating a complex molding operation to achieve its formation. Otherwise, two separate and distinct molding operations for different housings (one for each type contact) are required.
It is believed therefore that a method of producing electrical contacts which features interchangeability of components and therefore a substantial reduction in the number and complexity of molding operations necessary to provide housings for these contacts would constitute an advancement in the art.